1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to: a pellicle frame apparatus that is used in, for example, a semiconductor exposure apparatus; a mask; an exposing method; an exposure apparatus; and a device fabricating method.
2. Description of Related Art
Photolithography, which is one of the processes used to fabricate a device such as a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device, an image capturing device (for example, a charge coupled device, i.e., a CCD), or a thin film magnetic head, uses an exposure apparatus to expose a wafer (or a glass plate and the like), which serves as a substrate and is coated with a photoresist, repeatedly by transferring the pattern of a reticle, which serves as a mask, onto the wafer through a projection optical system. If foreign matter such as dust or waste adheres to the glass surface of the reticle or to the surface of a pellicle that is attached to the reticle, then there is a risk that the outline of the foreign matter will be transferred onto the substrate along with the pattern that is formed in the reticle, which would result in a defect.
Consequently, a protective apparatus, which is called a pellicle, is generally attached to the reticle in order to prevent the foreign matter from adhering to the pattern surface. With such a protective apparatus, a translucent thin film, the main component of which is nitrocellulose or the like, is mounted to a reticle substrate via a frame member (a frame).
Conventionally, the surface of the frame that opposes the substrate is coated with an adhesive, after which it is brought into contact with the substrate and fixed thereto by bonding. Here, if a large load is applied to the frame when it is bonded to the substrate, then the reticle will warp; consequently, Japanese Utility Model Application, Publication Nos. H06-36054A and H11-00098A disclose a technology wherein it is possible to bond a frame to a substrate without any gap and without applying a large load.
Nevertheless, the related art discussed above has the following types of problems. The flatness of the bonding surface (the contact surface) of the frame that bonds with the substrate is not quite satisfactory; consequently, even if the frame and the substrate are bonded without the application of a large load, there is still a risk that the substrate will conform to the frame, thereby causing the substrate (the reticle) to warp.
A purpose of some aspects of the present invention is to provide: a pellicle frame apparatus that can be mounted to a substrate without causing the substrate to conform to the frame; a mask; and an exposing method.